Investigating Distributed Simulation at The Ford Motor Company

  • Authors:
  • Simon J. E. Taylor;Leif Bohli;Xiaoguang Wang;Stephen J. Turner

  • Affiliations:
  • Centre for Applied Simulation Modeling Brunel University Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK;Centre for Applied Simulation Modeling Brunel University Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK;Parallel and Distributed Computing Centre Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Avenue,Singapore;Parallel and Distributed Computing Centre Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Avenue,Singapore

  • Venue:
  • DS-RT '05 Proceedings of the 9th IEEE International Symposium on Distributed Simulation and Real-Time Applications
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Engine production is a complex process that requires the manufacturing and assembly of a wide variety of components to create a varied product mix. Simulation plays a key role in the planning process of a new production line to determine if it can meet expected demand. However, these simulations can be very time consuming and can often take up to a day to execute a single run. This paper investigates how distributed simulation based on the IEEE 1516 High Level Architecture and the emerging standard COTS Simulation Package Interoperability Product Development Group (CSPI-PDG) Type I Interoperability Reference Model could be used to reduce the time taken for a single simulation run. CSP interoperability and the problem of integrating CSPs with HLA software (the runtime infrastructure) are presented. New prototype benchmarking software, the COTS Simulation Package Emulator (CSPE), which is being developed to investigate distributed simulation problems, is discussed. The paper then develops a case study of how this was used to investigate the feasibility of using distributed simulation at Ford. The paper discusses results obtained from this case study and suggests that distributed simulation could indeed be beneficial to Ford.